Terms of Use

Latest Revisions: August 13, 2008

PLEASE READ THE TERMS OF USE (“TOU”) BELOW.

These Terms of Use state the terms and conditions under which The Oklahoman Publishing Company and its affiliates (collectively, “OPUBCO”, “our” or “us”) provide you (“you” or “your”) access to the NewsOK.com sites, together with any sub-domains thereto and future sites owned and operated by OPUBCO, (the “Sites”) which defined term includes the Services as defined below.
BY ACCESSING, BROWSING, OR USING THE SITES AND SERVICES, YOU ARE ACCEPTING THE TOU, AS WELL AS OUR PRIVACY POLICY, WHICH IS INCORPORATED HEREIN BY REFERENCE, AS A BINDING AGREEMENT. IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO BE BOUND BY THE TOU OR THE PRIVACY POLICY, PLEASE DO NOT ACCESS, BROWSE OR USE THE SITES AND SERVICES. YOUR USE OF THE SITES AND SERVICES AND INFORMATION PROVIDED THEREIN MUST IN ALL CASES COMPLY WITH ALL APPLICABLE LAWS AND REGULATIONS.
1. DESCRIPTION OF SITES, SERVICES, AND SOFTWARE
2. ACCEPTANCE OF TERMS; CHANGES TO TOU
3. YOUR LICENSE TO USE THE SERVICES
4. NEWSOK.COM’S PRIVACY POLICY
5. POSTINGS TO THE SERVICES
6. MODIFICATIONS TO THE SERVICES
7. DEALINGS WITH ADVERTISERS OR THIRD PARTY VENDORS
8. CLASSIFIED ADVERTISEMENTS
9. LINKS; CO-BRANDING
10. DISCLAIMER
11. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
12. INDEMNIFICATION
13. TRADEMARK INFORMATION
14. PROPRIETARY RIGHTS.
15. PASSWORDS.
16. BILLING INFORMATION.
17. CHOICE OF LAW AND FORUM
18. SEVERABILITY; ENGLISH LANGUAGE
19. HEADINGS
20. LOCATION OUTSIDE THE U.S.
21. ENTIRE AGREEMENT

1. DESCRIPTION OF SITES, SERVICES, AND SOFTWARE
NewsOK.com and the Sites provide users with direct access to a rich collection of news and information, as well as, information access tools embedded on third party websites, bearing “powered by THE OKLAHOMAN” (the “Services”). Please note that the Services include information and software provided by third parties. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, any modifications, updates, new features, or enhancements to the current services are also subject to the TOU.

2. ACCEPTANCE OF TERMS; CHANGES TO TOU
OPUBCO provides the Services to you subject to the following TOU. By using the Sites, you are agreeing to comply with and be bound by the TOU. You acknowledge and agree that your use of the Site has the same effect as manually signing a contract and creates a valid, binding contract between you and OPUBCO. If you do not wish to be bound by the TOU, you should discontinue your use of the Sites and Services.

OPUBCO may modify this TOU at any time. Any modifications to the TOU will be effective immediately upon POSTing on the Sites. You agree to review the TOU POSTed on the Sites each time you use the Sites so that you are aware of any modifications to this TOU. Your continued usage of the Sites following any changes constitutes your acceptance of those changes. For your convenience and future reference, the date of the TOU is listed below so that you can compare any different versions of the TOU to determine any changes made to the TOU.

3. YOUR PERMISSION TO USE THE SERVICES
OPUBCO grants you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable permission to use the Services and Sites. This license is for the sole purpose of enabling you to use and enjoy the benefit of the Services in the manner provided by the TOU. You may not modify, publish, transmit, participate in the transfer or sale, create derivative works, or in any way exploit any of the content included in the Services, in whole or in part. You may download copyrighted material for your personal use only. Except as otherwise expressly permitted under copyright law, no copying, redistribution, retransmission, publication, or commercial exploitation of downloaded material will be permitted without the express permission of the copyright owner. In the event of any permitted copying, redistribution, or publication of copyrighted material, no changes in or deletion of author attribution, trademark legend, or copyright notice shall be made. You acknowledge that you do not acquire any ownership rights by downloading copyrighted material.

Except as otherwise expressly permitted in this Agreement, you may not: (i) decompile, reverse engineer, reverse assemble or otherwise attempt to discover any source code; or (ii) remove or alter any trademark, logo, copyright or other proprietary notices, legends, symbols or labels on the Services and (iii) create content in a manner to appear that the content comes from the Sites. You may not access the Services by any means other than through the interface that is provided by NewsOK.com. Furthermore, you may not use the Services in any manner that could damage, disable, overburden, or impair the Services (e.g., you may not access the Services in an automated manner by use of “spiders”, “robots” or otherwise), nor may you use the Services in any manner that could interfere with any other party’s use and enjoyment of the Services. You are not permitted to retrieve and store in electronic or any other form any material part of the databases underlying the Services. All commercial and/or unauthorized use of the Services is strictly prohibited. You agree not to use or resell the Services for any commercial purpose, including, but not limited to, sending unsolicited commercial messages.

The Services remain at all times the sole property of OPUBCO or its third parties, and their use is subject to all copyright and trademark notices. All rights to use the services not expressly granted to you by OPUBCO under the TOU are retained by OPUBCO.

4. NEWSOK.COM’S PRIVACY POLICY
OPUBCO protects your personally identifiable data as set forth in NewsOK.com’s privacy policy (the “Privacy Policy”). The Privacy Policy explains our collection and use of personally identifiable information. We POST that you review our Privacy Policy before you use the Services.

5. POSTINGS TO THE SERVICES
The Services may permit you to POST, submit, transmit, email, or otherwise make available text, information, questions, comments, graphics, video, audio, photographs or other material (collectively, “POSTings”). You may only submit POSTings that you create or that you have permission to submit and that do not violate copyright, trademark, or any other rights of third parties. We do not claim ownership of any POSTings that you may submit. However, by submitting POSTings to any of the other Services, you grant us, our subsidiaries, affiliates, successors, and assigns a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, fully-paid, non-exclusive, and sub-licensable license to use, copy, display, distribute, modify, adapt, publish, translate, publicly perform and publicly display the POSTings (in whole or in part) and to incorporate the POSTings into other works in any format or medium now or later known.

You may not upload, POST, submit, email, transmit, or otherwise make available any POSTings that (i) contain falsehoods or misrepresentations that could damage OPUBCO or any third party; (ii) are unlawful, obscene, defamatory, libelous, threatening, pornographic, harassing, hateful, racially or ethnically offensive, or encourage conduct that would be considered a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability, violate any law, or are otherwise inappropriate; (iii) contain advertisements, solicitations of business or spam; (iv) disseminate or transmit any worms, viruses or other harmful, disruptive or destructive files, code or programs; (v) collect or store personal information about others or otherwise invade their privacy; (vi) impersonate another person or forge headers or use any other method to disguise the true origin of the POSTing; (vii) contain materials protected copyright, trademark patent or other intellectual property rights unless you are the owner of such material or have license from the owner of any such proprietary rights to provide the materials; or (viii) you do not have a right to make available under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships. Additionally, you may not submit any POSTings that violate the TOU. All liabilities resulting from POSTings remain with its creator and not OPUBCO.

You acknowledge that OPUBCO is not obligated to pre-screen content submitted by members, but that OPUBCO shall have the right (but not the obligation) in their sole discretion to refuse or remove any content that is made available via NewsOK.com by any user that violates the TOU or is otherwise objectionable.

OPUBCO respects the intellectual property of others and asks you to do the same. OPUBCO may, in appropriate circumstances and at its sole discretion, terminate your right to use any of the Services for any reason, including, but not limited to, if you are an infringer. If you believe that your work has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement or your intellectual property rights have been otherwise violated, please contact us by clicking on “Contact Us”, and sending us an email.

6. MODIFICATIONS TO THE SERVICES
OPUBCO reserves the right at any time, and from time to time, to modify, suspend, or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, the Services (or any part thereof) with or without notice. You agree that OPUBCO shall not be liable to you or to any third party for any such modification, suspension or discontinuance.

7. DEALINGS WITH ADVERTISERS OR THIRD PARTY VENDORS
NewsOK.com may include advertisements on the Services. Your correspondence or business dealings with, or participation in promotions of, advertisers or third party vendors found on or through the Services, including payment and delivery of related goods or products, and any other terms, conditions, warranties or representations associated with such dealings, are solely between you and such advertiser or third party vendor. Any question, complaints, or claims should be directed to the appropriate advertiser or third party vendor. Additionally, all product reviews and ratings are informative for those wishing to use them, but they do not guarantee any level of performance by a third party vendor in any transaction. You agree that OPUBCO shall not be responsible or liable for any loss or damage of any sort incurred as the result of any such dealings or as the result of the presence of such advertisers or third party vendors or product reviews or ratings on the Services.

8. CLASSIFIED ADVERTISEMENTS
The Sites offer interactive areas for you to buy, sell and advertise items, real property, services and employment opportunities through classified advertisements or other forms of advertisements (“Classified Ad”). OPUBCO is never a party to any transaction between buyers and sellers. As a result, OPUBCO does not (i) guarantee any transaction between a buyer and seller, (ii) collect or process payment or transfer of title on behalf of buyers or sellers, or (iii) store, ship or deliver any items or vehicles.

OPUBCO is not obligated to publish a Classified Ad and can discontinue publication of a Classified Ad at any time. OPUBCO accepts no liability for error or omission with respect to a Classified Ad or your use of a Classified Ad. OPUBCO reserve the right to edit, reclassify, revise, reject, or cancel any Classified Ad at any time, in our sole discretion.

All Classified Ads are subject in all respects to our current rules and policies, including any rules and policies pertaining to paid and free Classified Ad services POSTed on the Site, and current demands upon advertising space. Please be sure to review all applicable rules, regulations and policies pertaining to submission of a Classified Ad. Rates, rules, regulations and policies for Classified Ads are subject to change.

OPUBCO does not knowingly accept advertising that discriminates or intends to discriminate based on race, color, religion, gender, national origin, handicap or familial status. We do not knowingly accept advertisements regarding employment that are not ads for bona fide job opportunities. You agree that you will not submit to us for publication, and we will not knowingly publish, any Classified Ad that states any preference, limitation, or discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, disability, handicap, familial status, or national origin in violation of federal and state laws.

9. LINKS; CO-BRANDING
The services may provide, or third parties may provide, links to other websites. Additionally, in many cases, co-branded services that are jointly provided by us and selected companies will contain the services’ branding, but might not be hosted by us. Because OPUBCO has no control over such sites, you acknowledge and agree that OPUBCO is not responsible for the availability of such external or co-branded sites, and does not endorse and is not responsible or liable for any content, advertising, products, or other materials on or available from such sites. You should not attribute any views or information on such sites to OPUBCO. You further acknowledge and agree that OPUBCO shall not be responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with use of or reliance on any such content, goods or products available on or through any such linked site. You should follow the link to the terms of use on the appropriate page for such sites to determine which company’s terms of use governs such sites.

Anyone linking to the Services must comply with the following guidelines and all applicable laws. A site that links to any Service (i) may link to but not replicate any Service’s content; (ii) should not create a browser or border environment around any Service’s content; (iii) should not imply that OPUBCO is endorsing it or its products; (iv) should not misrepresent its relationship with OPUBCO or any Service or Site; (v) should not present false information about OPUBCO or any Service or Site; (vi) should not use any OPUBCO trademarks, trade names, or logos without permission from OPUBCO; and (vii) should not contain content that is reasonably considered profanity, defamatory, vulgar, otherwise unlawful, or should not violate any state or federal laws, codes or regulations.

10. DISCLAIMER
WE DO NOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE ACCURACY OR RELIABILITY OF THE SERVICES. ADDITIONALLY, THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. OPUBCO AND ALL RELATED THIRD PARTIES, SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABLE, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.

OPUBCO, ALL RELATED THIRD PARTIES AND SUPPLIERS MAKE NO WARRANTY THAT: (i) THE SERVICES WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS, (ii) THE PROVISION OF THE SERVICES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, SECURE OR ERROR-FREE, (iii) THE RESULTS THAT MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE USE OF THE SERVICES WILL BE ACCURATE OR RELIABLE, (iv) THE QUALITY OF ANY PRODUCTS, SOFTWARE, SERVICES, INFORMATION, OR OTHER MATERIAL PURCHASED OR OBTAINED BY YOU THROUGH THE USE OF THE SERVICES WILL MEET YOUR EXPECTATIONS, OR (v) ANY ERRORS IN THE SERVICES WILL BE CORRECTED. NEITHER WE, NOR THIRD PARTIES OR SUPPLIERS, GUARANTEE THE RELIABILITY, ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, SAFETY, TIMELINESS, LEGALITY, USEFULNESS, ADEQUACY OR SUITABILITY OF ANY OF THE SERVICES. THE SERVICES MAY BE HARMFUL, UNTIMELY, INCOMPLETE, OR INACCURATE AND, ACCORDINGLY, YOU AGREE TO EXERCISE CAUTION, DISCRETION AND COMMON SENSE WHEN USING THE SERVICES.

YOU SHOULD NOT USE THE SERVICES FOR EMERGENCY PURPOSES OR TO SEEK OR PROVIDE DIAGNOSIS OR TREATMENT OF MEDICAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL OR OTHER PROBLEMS OR DIFFICULTIES, OR AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR PROFESSIONAL MEDICAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, TAX, LEGAL, INVESTMENT, ACCOUNTING, OR OTHER PROFESSIONAL ADVICE.

THE ENTIRE RISK FOR USE OF THE SERVICES IS BORNE BY YOU.

SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE DISCLAIMER OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES, SO A PORTION OF THE FOREGOING MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU, IN WHICH CASE THE DURATION OF ANY SUCH IMPLIED WARRANTIES IS LIMITED TO THE MINIMUM PERIOD PERMISSIBLE UNDER APPLICABLE LAW.

11. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
NONE OF THE THIRD PARTIES, OWNERS, CONTRIBUTORS, SPONSORS, ADMINISTRATORS, OR ANYONE ELSE CONNECTED WITH THE SERVICES IN ANY WAY WHATSOEVER CAN BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE APPEARANCE OF ANY INACCURATE INFORMATION OR FOR YOUR USE OF THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN OR LINKED FROM THE SERVICES.

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT WILL OPUBCO, OR THIRD PARTIES AND SUPPLIERS, BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO ACCESS THE SERVICES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF GOODWILL, WORK DISRUPTIONS, COMPUTER FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION, OR ANY AND ALL OTHER PERSONAL OR COMMERCIAL DAMAGES OR LOSSES, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY THEREOF, AND REGARDLESS OF THE LEGAL OR EQUITABLE THEORY (CONTRACT, TORT, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR OTHERWISE) UPON WHICH THE CLAIM IS BASED. NEITHER OPUBCO NOR THIRD PARTIES OR SUPPLIERS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY LIABILITY ARISING OUT OF THE SERVICES AND/OR ANY MATERIAL LINKED THROUGH THE SERVICES. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL OPUBCO, OR THIRD PARTIES, DIRECT LIABILITY ARISING OUT OF USE OF THE SERVICES EXCEED THE GREATER OF (I) THE AMOUNT YOU HAVE PAID OPUBCO FOR SUCH USE OR (II) $10.00. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT PERMIT SOME OF THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY, AND THEREFORE THIS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. IT IS YOUR RESPOSIBILITY TO DETERIME THIS.

12. INDEMNIFICATION
You agree to indemnify and hold OPUBCO, its subsidiaries and affiliates, and their respective officers, directors, employees, and agents harmless from and against any and all liability, losses, claims, demands or costs of any kind, including reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs of litigation, arising from (i) your POSTings or other content you submit, POST, transmit, email, or otherwise make available through the Services, (ii) your use of or reliance on the Services, (iii) your connection to the Services, (iv) your violation of the TOU, (v) your violation of any rights of another party, or (vi) any other damage caused by your use of the Services.

13. TRADEMARK INFORMATION
THE OKLAHOMAN, NEWSOK.COM, HOMESOK.COM, JOBSOK.COM, CARSOK.COM and other service names, trademarks and logos are trademarks of OPUBCO or its third parties. Without our prior written permission, or that of applicable third parties, you agree not to display, or use in any manner, the marks of OPUBCO. The trademarks, logos, and service marks not owned by OPUBCO and that are displayed on the Services are the registered or unregistered marks of their respective owners. No rights are granted by OPUBCO to use such marks, whether by implication, estoppel, or otherwise.

14. PROPRIETARY RIGHTS
All content, organization, graphics, design, compilation and other matters related to or included on the Sites are protected under applicable copyrights, trademarks, or other proprietary (including but not limited to intellectual property) rights and owned by OPUBCO. The foregoing provision does not apply to any POSTings.

15. PASSWORDS
NewsOK.com has several tools that allow you to record and store information. You are responsible for taking all reasonable steps to ensure that no unauthorized person shall have access to your NewsOK.com passwords or accounts. It is your sole responsibility to (1) control the dissemination and use of password; (2) authorize, monitor, and control access to your NewsOK.com password and account; and (3) promptly inform OPUBCO of any need to deactivate a password. Your right to use the Sites and Services is nontransferable and any password given to you is nontransferable. You grant OPUBCO and all other persons or entities involved in the operation of the Sites the right to transmit, monitor, store, retrieve and use your information in connection with the operation of the Sites. OPUBCO cannot and does not assume any responsibility or liability for any information you submit, or your or third parties’ use or misuse of information transmitted or received using NewsOK.com tools and services.

16. BILLING INFORMATION
Although most of the Services require no type of payment, some of the Services do require a fee. For such services, you are responsible for providing a valid credit card number and you represent and warrant that you are an authorized user of such credit card, and you agree to pay all applicable charges. You agree that OPUBCO may pass your credit card information and related personally identifiable information to its designated service provider(s) for their use in charging you for appropriate services. All charges are exclusive of sales or other taxes and you are responsible for payment of any applicable state, local and city taxes.

17. CHOICE OF LAW AND FORUM
The TOU and the relationship between you and OPUBCO shall be governed by the laws of the State of Oklahoma without regard to its conflict of law provisions. You and OPUBCO agree to submit to the personal and exclusive jurisdiction and forum convenience of the federal and state courts located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

18. SEVERABILITY; ENGLISH LANGUAGE
If any provision in the TOU should be held illegal or unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, such provision shall be modified to the extent necessary to render it enforceable without losing its intent, or severed from the TOU if no such modification is possible, and the other provisions of the TOU shall remain in full force and effect. The controlling language of the TOU is English. If you have received a translation into another language, it has been provided for your convenience only.

19. HEADINGS
The headings to the sections of the TOU are used for convenience only and shall have no substantive meaning or impact on the interpretation of the TOU.

20. LOCATION OUTSIDE THE U.S.
If you are located outside the U.S., then you are responsible for complying with any local laws in your jurisdiction that might impact your right to use the Services, and you represent that you have complied with any regulations or registration procedures required by applicable law to make the TOU enforceable.

21. ENTIRE AGREEMENT
The TOU constitute the entire agreement between you and OPUBCO and govern your use of the Services, superseding any prior agreements between you and OPUBCO. Please note, however, that some Services may have additional or different terms related specifically to such Service only (“Service Terms”). The Service Terms are in addition to the general terms and conditions in the TOU. If there is any conflict between the TOU and the Service Terms, the Service Terms will govern with respect to that particular Service. Some terms contained in the TOU may not be applicable to a particular Service, in which case, such inapplicable terms will not apply to you with respect to that particular Service.